Domestic car sales hit record high in October on robust festive demand, SUV launches

New launches also perked up sales (Representative Image)

Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales hit a record high in October, driven by robust demand during the festive season coupled with a huge response to the Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) introduced over the last few months.

Industry analysts reckon that carmakers despatched around 3,91,472 units last month, the highest ever monthly sales in the history of the domestic PV market.

On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, sales were up 16.3 percent from 3,36,679 units sold in October 2022. The cumulative sales from April to October this fiscal were 24,65,420 units, up by 8.4 percent from 22,73,419 units a year ago.

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Maruti Suzuki 

Passenger vehicle market leader Maruti Suzuki India reported its highest-ever monthly sales at 1,99,217 units in October, a 19 percent YoY growth over 1,67,520 units dispatched in October 2022. MSI also reported its best-ever domestic monthly dispatches in October at 1,77,266 units, up 21 percent from 1,47,072 units in the year-ago period.

The company’s total domestic passenger vehicle sales rose to 1,68,047 units last month from 1,40,337 units in October 2022. While Maruti’s sales were the highest in any month so far, it has also managed to sell to 10,60, 544 units so far during this financial year.

Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki, while releasing the October sales figures stated, “The industry has begun to increase production because the semiconductor shortage is fading away. Secondly, October was the month of good retails because of Navaratri, Dusshera. Thirdly as we have Diwali coming up within the the first 15 days of November and dealers are still stocking up vehicles in order to retail them."

Also Read: Tata Motors total sales up 5.89% at 82,954 units in October

Hyundai Motor India

Hyundai Motor India said its total wholesales rose 18 percent YoY to 68,728 units in October. The South Korean automaker had dispatched 58,006 units in October 2022. Its domestic sales increased 15 percent to 55,128 units last month, from 48,001 units in the same month a year ago. Exports jumped 36 percent YoY to 13,600 units in October this year.

Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India, said, “As we enter the peak of the festive season in India, Hyundai Motor India registered a robust sales number of 55,128 units in the domestic market in October. Also, the supply situation is back to full normalcy and our network is geared up to delight customers with the delivery of their favourite Hyundai cars.”

M&M

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), on its part, said its total wholesales surged 32 percent on-year to 80,679 units in October, clocking the highest-ever monthly dispatch. The Mumbai-based auto major had sold 61,114 units to dealers in October 2022.

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M&M's utility vehicle dispatches increased 36 percent YoY to 43,708 units from 32,226 units in the year-ago period. Exports, however, declined 33 percent to 1,854 units last month from 2,755 units in October 2022.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M, said in a statement, "Both SUVs and CVs individually achieved the highest-ever volumes for the third consecutive month at 43,708 and 25,715 units. While the strong festive demand should see us continue our growth momentum in November, we will keep a close watch on select supply-related challenges."

Also Read: Buoyed by festive demand, domestic car sales hit historic highs in September

Tata Motors

Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales, including electric vehicles, in the domestic market were at 48,337 units compared to 45,217 units in the year-ago month, up 7 percent. Its overall electric passenger vehicle sales in international and domestic markets stood at 5,465 units compared to 4,277 units in the same month a year ago, a growth of 28 percent.

Also Read: Passenger vehicle retail sales rise 19% to 3,32,248 units in September

Kia India

Kia India said its sales increased by 4.4 percent YoY to 24,351 units in October. The South Korean carmaker had dispatched 23,323 units in October 2022.

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Hardeep Singh Brar, National Head, Sales & Marketing, Kia India, said in a statement, "During the festive season, our customers' positive outlook has helped us achieve our fourth-highest monthly sales ever in India. The fact that our products like Seltos, Sonet, and Carens continue to dominate in their respective segments despite multiple new launches by competition is a major accomplishment."

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MG Motor India

MG Motor India announced that its sales for October 2023 were at 5,108 units posting a growth of 17 percent, compared to the figures from October 2022.  The company last month registered retail sales of 5,003 units. It also revealed that EV sales continue to contribute around 25 percent of the total sales of the company.

Also Read: PV sales touch all-time high in Q2; UVs account for nearly 60% of volumes